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Cal.6th: There is a federal constitutional right of privacy in medical and psychiatric records

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

There is a Griswold constitutional right of privacy in medical and psychiatric records which can only be disclosed when there is a compelling state interest, which the court finds here in a SVP case. People v. Gonzales, 2011 Cal. App. LEXIS 91 (6th Dist. January 27, 2011): Given Lifschutz and the weight of federal and state authority cited above, we too find that the notion of substantive due process in general, and the notion of constitutionally protected zones of privacy in particular encompass a right to privacy that independently protects information generated in confidence between a patient and psychotherapist from unwarranted and unjustified intrusions by the government. We further find, however, that the constitutional protection is not absolute but may yield where disclosure serves competing state interests that outweigh the degree of intrusion disclosure would cause...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on January 31, 2011 (boomark / email).